www. AntiochLA. edu 29 know I'll want to pop in and see Bob Lazzarini, chat with Cynthia, and hope to see Al or Andrea and so many others in the hallway. I love the conversations that happen in the hallway. It's just a great fam-ily of people." She appreciates the MAE curriculum, which, with Amy's help, incorporated environmental educa-tion models of natural conflict into coursework. " Cynthia McDermott recognized the need to address the commitment to environment and social justice, but because we have this commitment to get students their credentialing in one year, you can't really add a class. Instead, we sat down and looked at how we could - doing justice to both disciplines - actively merge something together." Out of Africa. Amy returned recently from a three week trip to Tanzania. " I was a park ranger for many years, and I do park ranger training as one of my hats. The fellow who's organizing this eco- conscious safari company was traveling to a new conservation area to scout and asked me to come along and look at it and talk to the rangers." She spent time with the locals, participated in anti-poaching patrols, and ended up discovering a fascinating model of community- based conservation that she plans to study as a model for conservation projects around the world. The area she visited is managed by all the local villages, with a mind toward the positive economic and environmental im-pact of everyone working together. " I think that's one of the problems [ in the U. S.]: we separate environ-ment and people, and economy and environment. Everything about this [ Tanzanian] model is just what I believe in and what I love." Path to Her Ph. D. Amy calls herself an all- Antioch gal, and she does so with great respect and affection. " I love the diversity of age, experience, back-ground, and accomplishment at AULA. They cut through all the intimidating barriers to even thinking about going back to school." While toying with the idea of getting her Ph. D., Amy knew it might be tough to narrow down her focus " because I wear all these different hats and have all these different ideas." When she arrived in Africa she realized, " here's my project." Now that she has the project of her dreams, the next piece of Amy's bio is sure to include " current Antioch University Ph. D. student." We can't wait to see her in the hall-way again soon. There is only one way to end this - hats off to Amy Lethbridge! CONNECT Learn more about MRCA parks www. LAMountains. com CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Anti- Poaching Patrol Unit in Tanzania; Amy celebrates with a friend after completing a high ropes course; Amy in Tanzania; Amy at Vista Hermosa

Kids' When Dr. J. Cynthia McDermott created a new award for children's authors, she had several goals in mind. She wanted to foster community discussion regarding the use of children's books in the classroom, she wanted to provide inspiration for her students and visibility for her department, but her main goal was creating an award that " mattered." " I wanted to honor new works that exemplify the ideals of social action - Antioch's ideals," says McDermott. Thus, the Horace Mann Upstanders Award was born. " We focus on selecting works that encourage young readers to become agents of change themselves," McDermott says. Given annually to an author of children's fiction for grades K through 6th, the award honors a piece of literature that exemplifies these ideals. An " upstander" is a person who recognizes injustice and acts in a way to right the wrong. The first award was given in June 2008 to Frank Asch ( author) and Devin Asch ( illustrator) for Mrs. Marlowe's Mice, the story of a young cat widow living in Cat City who protects her houseful of mice from the Department of Catland Security. McDermott notes, " Frank Asch is an internationally respected author whose writing clearly demonstrates his high regard for children and his belief in them as agents of change. Mrs. Marlowe's Mice, as well as Mr. Marlowe's Mouse, the first in this story sequence, could not have been better examples of the type of story that so well exemplifies this award." Building on the award ceremony, AULA's Teacher Education department hosted a day- long conference, and this father- and- son, author- illustrator team gave the 2008 keynote speech. Attendees enjoyed additional speakers including Eve Bunting, the Hans Christian Anderson of American children's literature and author of more than 250 books, and Susan Patron, the 2007 Newbery Award winner for her children's book The Higher Power of Lucky. The 2009 Conference featured speakers were Tracey Porter, a teacher at Crossroads School who discussed international child labor issues and her book, Billy Creekmore, and Tim Tingle, a Choctaw storyteller and author who read, drummed, and encouraged the audience to collect family stories. 2009 Horace Mann Upstanders Award Winner Honoring " Upstanders" at the Children's Literature Conference CONNECT Read more about Steve www. signonsandiego. com/ news/ features/ breen/ Attend our Conference or suggest an upstander www. upstandersaward. org Lit 30 AULA Conection